Political cards are tactics used by liberals in politics, the media, and other adversarial settings in order to appeal to emotion or even prejudice rather than reason. The term is a metaphor for what happens in the card game of bridge, where one card can be played to "trump" (defeat) all other cards.

In contrast with most card games, however, a political card can be played at any time, no matter how irrational or irrelevant to the topic. Many liberal articles and commentaries consist of little more than playing one or more political cards.

A card is "played" when one side relies on a particular issue in order to gain an often-unjustified upper hand in the debate or controversy.

African-Americans oppose the promotion of gay rights in greater numbers than the general population of the United States as a whole.[4]

intolerant card

demonstrating inconsistencies in liberal ideology.

the most despicable forms of liberal intolerance traditionally have been reserved for, and manifested in, the vile abuses heaped upon Black conservatives, Black Republicans, and Black Tea Party activists.

in a democracy, the voice of opposition can always be labeled intolerant

boomerang

Kennedy card

Used to support socialized medicine

cite Ted Kennedy’s “dream”, the “the cause of my life”, “Senator Kennedy eloquently captured how our long-term care system is failing the American people when he said, too often, they have to give up the American Dream" [5]

emotional appeal for passing legislation

Only 26% of the population can relate to liberalism, the Kennedy card has zero effect on legislation.

Often taken out of context (for example the Clinton surplus was largely due to a Republican congress and the end of the Cold War, while the Bush deficit was caused greatly by two wars and need for Homeland Security.

cherry picking data card

selectively picking out cases that support one's arguments from a wide variety of material and ignoring all the cases that don't

Implies Democrats are sympathetic to a person's immigration status, despite the fact there is no historical record of legislative achievements in this area and Democrats associate being opposed to illegal immigration as being "anti-immigration" as a whole, which is bigoted and completely insulting to people that come to this country legally.

The Obama Dream Act, a "cynical exercise in political charades", failed to pass the Democratic controlled Senate, 55-41.

Seeks to pit voters against each other along racial and ethnic lines, which Democrats view as a win.

"probably the biggest lie that's been told to the blacks since Woodrow Wilson segregated the federal government" [24]

labels Southerners as racist.

ignores the fact that (1) Richard Nixon did not carry the South; a Democrat, George Wallace received 49 electoral votes exclusively from the South; and (2) passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act was entirely dependent on Republican votes with Democrats in both houses voting against passage.[25]

On the 150th anniversary of start of the Civil War, MSNBC's liberal hosts never missed an opportunity to associate today's conservative movement with the Confederacy, secession, slavery and racism.[26]

↑The Washington Post Fact Checker column said, "in the context of a $4 trillion goal, it is essentially meaningless. The item is so small the White House could not even provide an estimate of the revenue that would be raised, but other estimates suggest it would amount to $3 billion over 10 years."

↑Thomas Sowell writes, (a) goals are redefined after the fact to give the public the illusion of success; (b) bad motives are ascribed to the opposition or society in general; (c) good intentions of the anointed are highlighted; and (d) they attack the accuracy of the data showing failure. Thomas Sowell, The Vision of the Anointed, Chap. 2.